Sunday, December 9, 2012

WHO: 80% of China Deaths from Non-Communicable Diseases

December 7, 2012
World Health Organization officials are urging China to reduce the
country’s high rates of non-communicable diseases, warning that medical
costs and productivity losses stemming from those diseases will amount
to significant economic losses for the world’s second-largest economy.
Heart disease, strokes, diabetes and chronic lung disease are
mounting in China, accounting for 80% of deaths and more than 70% of the
country’s health expenditures, said Michael O’Leary, the WHO
representative to China, in a press briefing Friday. By 2015, a decade
of costs tied to health care and losses of productivity from diseases
such as diabetes and heart disease are expected to reach as high as $550
billion, Mr. O’Leary said